Japan–Indonesia Economic Cooperation: An Overview

This article aims to deepen our knowledge of Japan’s foreign policy in the Southeast Asian region and its role in Indonesia’s economic development, focusing on their economic cooperation via the Indonesia–Japan
Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA) and Manufacturing Industry Development Centre (MIDEC) programme. The former has promoted cooperation via a tariff reduction scheme, while the latter facilitates the Indonesian government’s aid to micro, small and medium
enterprises in the entrepreneurial sector.
* SENIWATI is a Lecturer at the Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences in Hasanuddin University, Makassar, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia.
Munif Arif RANTI, Oktaviano Nandito GUNTUR and Ibnu Aly BADIU are students at the Department of International Relations in the same institution.
JAPAN HAS IMPLEMENTED a grand strategy to maintain peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region since August 2016 when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched the “free and open Indo-Pacific” (FOIP), cooperating with east asian policy 79 various countries including Indonesia. Japan sees Southeast Asia as a strategic region, especially in supporting its own economy. Therefore, Abe made a state
visit to Indonesia while serving as Japan’s prime minister in 2017. He had given Southeast Asia top priority in his diplomatic visit, which he hoped would help Japan forge partnership with Southeast Asia in not only the security sector but also the economic sector. In addition, Japan has grave concerns about China, which has a dominant presence in Southeast Asian region, and this explains Abe’s motivations for more intense cooperation with countries in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia.
To strengthen economic cooperation between Japan
and Indonesia, Abe led a 30-member delegation of
businessmen to Indonesia in 2017. Four major strategic
projects, namely the Patimban port, the Jakarta–Surabaya
railway, the oil and gas block in Natuna island, and a
chemical fertiliser project, were discussed during his
visit.1
Abe’s visit is concrete evidence of the gravitas
that the Japanese government has given in forging
cooperation with the Indonesian government led by
President Joko Widodo, popularly known as President
Jokowi.